UM draws tiger researchers

Tshering Tempa became the first student from Bhutan to complete a doctoral degree at UM this spring. Tempa was co-advised by professors Scott Mills and Mark Hebblewhite. He investigated the ecology of montane Bengal tigers in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Previous to Tempa's research, little was known about tigers in Bhutan. He examined overall tiger density in Bhutan, factors affecting tiger distribution, and how Bhutanese tigers connect to other tigers in the Himalayan subcontinent. Tempa also works at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and the Environment in Bhutan. Read more about his research.

Also this year, Dina Mathiukina, a senior research biologist at the Land of the Leopard National Park near Vladivostok, Russia, came to UM to study Amur tigers and Amur leopards (a big cat even more endangered than tigers). And Wenhong Xiao is a post-doctoral researcher just across the border monitoring the Amur tigers that prowl between China and Russia. They've all come to our wildlife biology program to study tigers. Read more about UM's tiger research in this Missoulian newspaper story "Tiger experts cross the globe to learn from Montana biologists." (pdf file)